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Hi guys installing a stock mustang bridge on a Fender Japan Telecaster, and having a bit of trouble.

When the string comes up from the under the roller bar from the bigsby and hits the bridge the saddle is low to catch the string and in sits on the bridge chassis... any ideas ? or maybe this mod is only for the jag/jm with a shallower break angle ?

If you haven't already, crank the bridge base down as far as it will go and raise the saddle.

If the string still doesn't clear, then you probably need to shim the neck to give yourself more break angle. Most Tele's that have that style of bridge with a Bigsby have the neck shimmed for that reason.

"The saddles of that style of bridge aren't adjustable just the height of the bridge itself."

OK, I wasn't aware of that. That does make it tougher.
I've never messed around with the Mustang bridge. I've got a Jazzmaster, so I understand that one - and that does have the saddle height adjustment.

FWIW - I put a Mastery bridge on my Jazzmaster and that has saddle height adjustment, as well. They also designed their bridge "walls" to be lower so there's much less concern about strings contacting anything but the saddles.

Another option is to try stringing the Bigsby over the string retainer bar. If there's enough downward string angle behind the saddles, they'll stay in place on the bridge.

Too shallow an angle and you run the risk of what many Jazzmasters and Jaguars suffer from: strings popping out of the saddles when strummed hard, due to the shallow break-over angle of the strings at the bridge.

I recall going through a nightmare many years ago with an MIJ Tele with Bigsby, probably 10 years ago. In the end the Mustang bridge and very specific shimming made the difference. I believe I had a thread here on the project at the time. Still have the guitar!

Prior to the fix I got a nasty sitar sound out of that thing. Trouble was I was not really interested in that tone from a Tele. Sitar+Bigsby=Holey Moley throw that thing in the fire.

My shimming was done by trial and error. Probably 15 errors before it worked properly. I kept changing the thickness and placement until I found the magic recipe. Each effort included fully restringing. Hugely time consuming, although I'm sure someone who actually knew what they were doing would have had it nailed much quicker.

If I could I would share the exact details, but sorry to say that I would have to get back into it and potentially cause some change that would get me back to where I was. It's held for about ten years and no reason to think it won't hold for a long while.

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